Today we’d like to introduce you to LaVal Brewer.
Hi LaVal, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
Currently, I’m the proud President & CEO of South County Outreach in Irvine, CA, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to prevent hunger and homelessness by helping people help themselves. For the past 30 years, I’ve been in nonprofit management in executive and development roles. But it’s been a long and exciting — sometimes challenging — journey to where I’m at now. For the first 20+ years of my career, I worked in a variety of leadership positions at YMCAs throughout Southern California. I would recommend anyone interested in nonprofit — or in any business career — work with the YMCA. I spent nearly 10 years as Executive Director of three of the YMCA’s larger branch facilities. It’s an amazing training ground for business operations and leadership and you know you’re making a difference every day.
After working with the YMCA, I became Executive Director of Playworks Southern California, a nonprofit focused on bringing out the best in children through play by helping schools and districts make the most of recess. Just prior to becoming CEO of South County Outreach, I served as Director of Business Development and Partnerships at OneOC, an organization that helps Orange County’s nonprofits become as efficient and effective as they are passionate about their missions.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
The biggest struggles I’ve had have been around not wanting to let the community down, the communities that I serve through my work in nonprofits. This is where the fear of failure comes up. If my team and I try a new program or solution to address an issue within the communities our nonprofit serves and it doesn’t work, what does that mean? I constantly have to remind myself that failure is something we all experience and that the important thing is to learn from the failure. More than that, I’ve learned how to “fail forward,” continuing to stay brave and push the envelope with innovation to work to solve issues around hunger and homelessness. I’ve also learned that fundraising — which is a necessity in any nonprofit no matter what position you hold — is always a challenge. Funding for nonprofits doesn’t come easy. You’re always looking for a new donor while keeping current donors, it’s a never-ending chase of deal-making, of grant writing and grant “getting” in a super competitive environment. Burnout is another challenge in any profession, but especially in nonprofits. I am constantly walking around the office to look my team in the eyes, to see the work (and the stress) first-hand. I am putting a wellness plan in place for our team so that people don’t burn out. We need a wellness plan in place so people don’t burn out.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
LaVal Brewer is the proud President & CEO of South County Outreach in Irvine, CA, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to prevent hunger and homelessness by helping people help themselves. LaVal possesses more than 30 years of experience in nonprofit management and more than a decade of experience in executive and development roles. For the first 20+ years of his career, LaVal served in a variety of leadership positions at YMCAs throughout Southern California, including nearly a decade’s tenure as Executive Director of three large branch facilities. He then brought his dedication and expertise to the role of Executive Director of Playworks Southern California, a nonprofit focused on bringing out the best in children through play by helping schools and districts make the most of recess. Just prior to joining South County Outreach, LaVal served as Director of Business Development and Partnerships at OneOC, an organization that helps Orange County’s nonprofits become as efficient and effective as they are passionate about their missions. While there, he led the organization to impressive growth through employee engagement and corporate partnerships.
As President and CEO of South County Outreach, it is LaVal’s goal to transform the organization’s Food Pantry into a place where people who are in short-term crisis situations can feel like they are shopping for nutritious, healthy food in a normal grocery store environment without having to pay. He also hopes to partner with cities, funders, and corporate groups to create revenue that will allow the organization to help people who have fallen behind on rent and utility payments, and then find ways for people to better themselves so that they can ultimately escape the hunger and homelessness cycle. LaVal earned his bachelor’s degree in Human Services from Springfield College. He is a board member for Center Club Orange County and council member for the County of Orange, Senior Citizen Advisory Council, and also serves as an Elder at the Presbyterian Church of the Master in Mission Viejo. LaVal resides in Mission Viejo with his wife and three daughters, who provide him with inspiration every day. More About South County Outreach
For more than 32 years, South County Outreach (SCO) has been a leader in the fight to end hunger and homelessness in Orange County. The organization believes that helping people help themselves is the most effective way to build a self-sustaining community. Through the implementation of programs like our homeless prevention program, along with our food program, which distributes over 700,000 pounds of food and keeps nearly 2,000 children fed each year, South County Outreach continues to do what we do best—housing hope and ending hunger.
Website: http://www.sco-oc.org/
If you had to, what characteristic of yours would you give the most credit to?
I’m a forward thinker and I believe you have to be forward-thinking to be successful in any endeavor. As a forward thinker, you use history and rear-view analysis to fuel progress. Leaders who live in today have already lost. I am always thinking six to 18 months ahead and clearing a path for my team to get to that vision. You also should be dreaming 10 years ahead. What will happen at my organization in 10 years? What needs to be done so that the next leader of our nonprofit or company will not have to re-walk the path we’re on now? A good example of this forward thinking in the nonprofit sector is an endowment and planned giving. When you begin the effort to establish an endowment and planned giving program, you get nothing at the beginning. The effort actually costs money and time at the outset. But, if we don’t blaze that trail now, we won’t have an endowment in the future.
I’m also a culture-builder. As a leader, you have to create a culture that you and your team want to work in. I’m a go-getter and leaders like me need to work with other leaders and a team and board of directors who have goals and want to get things done. It’s also important to build a culture of respect and invite your team into the conversations so that they can be heard, you can hold each other accountable, be vulnerable and be in it together.
Pricing:
- www.sco-oc.org to donate
Contact Info:
- Website: www.sco-oc.org
- Instagram: outreachoc
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lavalbrewer/
Image Credits
Images courtesy of South County Outreach
